


AES Assemble

by SiniseSnakeEyes



Series: AES04 [3]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Agent Tony, Alternate Universe, Assassin Tony, Gen, own creation: Blue Knives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-11
Updated: 2013-07-16
Packaged: 2017-12-19 04:23:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiniseSnakeEyes/pseuds/SiniseSnakeEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Follows Version 1 of Rebuilding an old Bridge</p><p>Tony Stark re-appears in the world and instantly starts to do his own thing with Natasha at his side. Together they live 'normal' lives - if you can call working for SHIELD as Agents/Assassins and simultaneously working on new inventions for SI 'normal'...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contact with the world and someone not-so-Green

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Welcome to the next part in my AES04 series, this follows my Version 1 of Rebuilding an old Bridge (if you read that a while ago then I would recommend to read it again since I changed it a tinny bit)! I know I took my time with this but I hope you guys can forgive me and I hope you will like it! Feel free to leave reviews/comments to tell me what I did good and what I could improve. ^_^
> 
> By the way the title may change since I didn't know how to call this part of the series, if you can think of a better title tell me and I will think about it! :)
> 
> Oh and I haven't decided with whom I should pair Tony! Personally I'm for FrostIron but ScienceBoyfriends would be cool to. Make suggestions what pairing you would like (you can make others than those two). :D
> 
> "Blah blah in italics" = words in Bengali (spoken language in Calcutta)

Anthony Edward Stark – long thought dead son of Howard Stark, biggest shareholder of the rebuild Stark Industries and in certain circles feared assassin Blue Knives – walked through the halls of his tower in New York City with his beautiful assistant Natasha _Rushman_ at his left and the CEO of Stark Industries, Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts at his right.

 

When Tony had begun buying shares of Stark Industries with the money Jarvis had given him, he had been surprised how cheap it was to buy but after doing research he and Natasha had found out that after Howard’s and Maria’s deaths the stocks had slowly but steadily been dwindling down and the then CEO, Obadiah Stane had realised this and left the sinking ship (but not before grabbing his ‘share’ of money) and left everything to his then secretary Pepper Potts who had tried her best to safe the company but her best had sadly not been enough. So when Tony had revealed himself alive to the world, people had been sceptic since Howard had declared Tony to be dead but after a blood test had supported his claim the uproar calmed. When asked why Howard had told the world that Tony was dead he would tell them that it had been ‘a reasonable assumption since he [Tony] had been kidnapped and had been believed to be dead’ and if they asked what had happened during his stay with the kidnappers he would give no comment and let their imagination do the rest.

It worked pretty well that way, everyone was so preoccupied to come up with explanations of what could have happened that they almost missed how Tony bought most of the company and got it slowly back to it’s feet.

With Pepper and Natasha’s help and some brilliant staff from R&D Tony replaced the weapons production with medical and technological advances that boggled the minds of the whole world and Stark Industries shoot up from bottom to top almost over night.

Simultaneously Tony and Natasha had aced the tests that they had been given by SHIELD without breaking a sweat and Tony had decided to hide his face behind a metal mask, which is why he now wore an earring on his left ear the small amount of metal made it easier to create the mask.

Only in the presence of Natasha, Clint, Phil, Jarvis and Director Fury Tony let the mask retract while working in SHIELD. Natasha and Tony had settled perfectly into their double life and had even gained friends in Clint and Phil – Jarvis had caught up with Tony what he had done during all their time apart and had become something like an father-figure to the two assassins.

Tony had even built a tower where he, Natasha, Clint, Phil and Jarvis each had a floor as well as a common floor (a few floors were still empty) and the lower levels were R&D of Stark Industries but only those with the proper authorisation were allowed into the upper floors by Tony’s newly created A.I….

 

But back to the present: Tony, Tasha and Pepper were discussing something that was extremely important to Tony – and thus for Natasha too – something that would change everything, not for the world but for one man in particular. Tony even had the consent from Director Fury for this, which made it even better in Tony’s eyes – even without it he still would have done it eventually but the older mans approval meant he had back-up in this if needed.

Pepper – who only knew that Tony work for a government organization with a too long name – was happy to help the person that had saved the company almost single-handedly and even became something like a friend during this, especially since it was for a good reason.

The thing they were planning to do was to give the gamma expert and man on the run from the military, Doctor Bruce Banner, a place to call home without fearing that the military would hunt him down any second.

At the moment they were discussing how they should contact the man since finding him wasn’t the problem for Tony and Tasha but they didn’t want to scare him off during their first contact or at the revelation that they were working for a government organization – even if it was more a part-time thing – which made it a bit more difficult. 

Natasha was for the direct approach, which meant Tony and herself going to the Doctor’s current hiding place and just ask him while giving him basics of what he would get himself into. The suggestion hadn’t really surprised Tony, he understood that Tasha was thinking of slowly building trust with this sometimes dangerous man and trust couldn’t grow on lies, it would only be failed to doom and they all didn’t want a green rage monster at them because of a misunderstanding. 

Pepper more thought of sending someone else or just a message since she was afraid for the safety of her friends if they were to confront Doctor Banner.

But Tony argued that a messenger or just a message would send out the wrong signs, namely that Banner would think they were afraid of him and would only want to lure him into some kind of trap with their offer and so they decided on Natasha’s suggestion.

Now they only needed to prepare everything for the flight to Calcutta…

 

The flight had gone without a problem and Clint had invited himself into the ‘party’ to tag along. Natasha and Tony tried to ignore the warm feeling that they experienced when Clint said with a grin: “You won’t get rid of me even if you want to, besides Director Fury approved of my request to come with you guys!” 

They were walking through the dirty streets of a shadier part in Calcutta in normal street clothes (Tony wore his hoodie so that no one would recognise him immediately) and chatted in various languages – it was a game for them to see who knew the most (Tony always won, followed by Natasha and Clint). It also confused people if they were listening in on their conversation.

When they came closer to their destination they stopped talking and split up. Clint took to the roofs to observe, in case Banner should run away and they had to pursue him and Natasha stayed by Tony’s side.

The building – if you could even call it that – where Banner was staying was extremely run down as Tony could observe but while running with Natasha from SHIELD and after joining SHIELD they had seen even worse so that didn’t bother him as they stepped into it.

Tony knocked on a door and they heard noises as if someone was running around, probably to grab the most essential to run away. To stop the Doctor Tony talked loud enough so that he could be heard through the door – which wasn’t a problem since it was extremely thin. _“Doctor Banner? My name is Tony I would like to talk to you. I have a proposal that could interest you.”_

He heard a muffled curse and a shouted _“I don’t care! I won’t be used as some weapon for you guys.”_

_“We are not from the military Doctor Banner. We rather wanted to give you a chance to escape the military permanently.”_

_“…What do you want form me?”_

_“Come to my place, live there, work in the R &D labs, live a life without being chased.”_

_“What would be in for you?”_

_“Another genius to talk to and maybe a future friend?”_

_“…Come in.”_

When Tasha and Tony stepped into the room – eyes scanning it for escape routes – they saw a young man with dark hair, dark brown eyes and casual clothes near the window, duffel bag hanging over his shoulder.

Every line in the other man’s screamed of fight or flight, which was why Tony only moved slowly as he took of his hoodie as Natasha closed the door behind them. Tony ruffled a hand through his flattened hair and starred at the Doctor evenly to whom just dawned who exactly was standing in front of him.

“Tony Stark…”

 


	2. Welcome and don’t forget to say ‘Hi’ to the A.I.

_“Tony Stark…”_

 

Out of surprise Banner let the duffel bag slide from his shoulder so that it landed with a *thud* and it took a lot of his control not to let his mouth hang wide open.

After a few seconds of staring at an amused Tony _Stark_ and someone that looked a lot like his assistant, Natasha - _what was it_?- Banner finally regained the use of his voice.

“What are you doing here Mister Stark?!?”

A small smile crossed Tony’s features as he replied: “I already told you that Doctor Banner, didn’t I Tasha?” He turned the last part he turned at his assistant who was standing close to him.

“Yes you did.” She answered mattered of fact.

Banner ran a hand nervously through his slightly curly hair. “I know that you said that you wanted me to come with you but I don’t understand why and what would you really want from me Mister Stark? You must have some kind of motivation for me to come with you.”

“Oh yes I have one but not the kind you think. I would like to offer you a place where you can feel save and don’t have to worry about anybody chasing you and in time you will learn why that is. If you decide to come with us to New York then you can work at my R&D labs if you want to and you can leave whenever you want to. You wouldn’t be bound to stay with us, especially if you don’t want to.”

Banner looked warily at Tony and Natasha to see if the words were truthful. “…I could leave whenever I want to? No ties? No caches?” 

“None.”

After a few minutes of quietly thinking the offer over in his mind the Doctor slowly nodded his head in agreement.

“Alright I will come with you if that is the case.”

The smile Tony gave him at the answer wasn’t big but so genuine that it surprised the Doctor who had seen pictures of the man while smiling for the press –these smiles had obviously (to Bruce) been fake – but this one was real and Banner had never had such a small but honest smile directed at him. He slightly blushed and tried to hide it as he picked up his bag.

“Great, then let’s go!” Tony said enthusiastically and smiled at Natasha who also let a smile past the mask – they both had slowly learned to let their emotions show a bit more open or at least fake them very well, Tony especially since he was such a public figure now but while at work for SHIELD or with people he didn’t trust Tony would put on fake masks. In this case Natasha could tell that the smile Tony was wearing was real and not just to make the Doctor a bit more comfortable with his choice.

The Doctor checked if he had everything he needed and walked out of the run down house with Tony and Natasha leading the way. Outside Clint was waiting for them, casually leaning against a wall and grinning from ear to ear at the three – after seeing that nothing was going wrong he had decided to greet the Doctor normally instead of surprising him by jumping down from a roof.

Clint pushed himself from the wall and fell into step besides the Doctor since Tony and Tasha just continued walking down the dark streets seemingly without a care (Tony had drawn up his hoodie again), Banner gave Clint an analysing look and only relaxed slightly when Clint introduced himself. “Clint Barton, friend of Tony and Natasha. Nice to meet you Doctor Banner.”

Clint held out his hand towards Banner – walking sideways – and after a moment of hesitation and another calculating look, Banner shook it. “Nice to meet you too, Mr Barton.”

“Call me Clint, Doctor Banner.”

At the smile Clint gave Banner, he couldn’t help but smile back while saying “Only if you call me Bruce.”

After that they walked in silence through the streets until suddenly someone jumped out of an alley and tried to threaten Tony into giving him his money – key word here: _tried_. The guy waved the knife around in what he assumed was threatening but Tony just ignored that. He waited for the right moment and then fluently disarmed the guy while simultaneously restraining himself from breaking every bone in the other guy’s body instead knocking him unconscious. Bruce just stared in awe while Natasha and Clint just looked bored and continued walking as if their friend hadn’t been jumped by a thug just moments ago.

Tony who waved one hand in front of Bruce’s face to get his attention, while putting with the other hand the knife away he had taken from the now unconscious guy in a hidden pocket in his hoodie, shook Bruce from his stupor.

“How did you do that? _Where_ did you learn that?” Bruce asked while falling into step at Tony’s side still awed at what he had seen but suspicious too.

“A long story, one you will learn very soon.”

“Well if that is the case, you could start now?”

“…When we’re in the plane. Not here where someone could hear.”

Reluctantly Bruce nodded in acceptance, he could wait but he honestly didn’t like the idea of having a conversation in an airplane when he didn’t know what kind of reactions it would cause in him and possibly bring out the _other guy_.

Once they finally reached the private plane, they all sat down in comfortable chairs that were lined up around a table.

“YINSEN? Please bring us home.” Tony said to the air and Bruce expected someone standing somewhere Bruce couldn’t see to answer but instead a voice answered seemingly form the ceiling.

“Of course Tony.” The accented voice said gently.

Bruce looked around startled and then it clicked into place. “An A.I.?”

Tony nodded and smiled slightly at the other scientist, surprised that the Doctor had figured it out so quickly but Banner _was_ a genius in his own right so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

“Yes YINSEN is an AI. Say ‘hi’ Yins.”

“Hello Doctor Banner.” The AI said stiffly and Bruce then realised that the A.I. really had an own personality otherwise he wouldn’t be able to be kind to Tony and stiff to Bruce without his creators saying so. It was the first time Bruce had learned of such an AI but it wasn’t really a surprise that the world didn’t know about it – him? – since Stark seemed to have many secrets that he was hiding from most of the world.

Instead of being put of by the stiff greeting, Bruce stayed polite. “Hello YINSEN. It’s nice to meet you.”

The AI didn’t reply anything and Clint grinned while Natasha and Tony stifled grins of their own at the AI’s behaviour. YINSEN would treat everyone he didn’t know coldly but professionally since he couldn’t be sure if they would turn out as threats for his charges namely Tony, Tasha and Clint occasionally even teaming up with Phil and Jarvis if he wanted other opinions or needed their help.

Only when people turned out to be trustworthy did he warm up to them and that could either be very quick, slow or never.   

Tony turned to Bruce while displaying a picture of perfect calm – even though he was a bit anxious to tell the other man certain things already but he couldn’t expect the man’s trust if he didn’t trust him a little bit too – and started his story.

He left out a few details like where the facility he and Natasha had been experimented on had been located, what had happened before their escape, and details of the jobs they had done but the Doctor seemed to understand what they had implied. It was surprisingly easy to tell the other man the most important things of his and Natasha’s life – with Tasha and Clint occasionally adding things – and he felt somehow connected to him, something that Tony couldn’t really explain. Banner didn’t seem to be disgusted of what Tony and Natasha were but rather angry at what had been done to them and this seemed to earn him some points with Clint and YINSEN since the AI wasn’t as frosty to the Doctor when he told him that he should try to regain his calm otherwise he might endanger the other three passengers if he were to hulk out.

After some slow calming breaths Bruce told Tony to ‘please continue’, which Tony did. He told him a little bit of SHIELD and SI as well as the tower where Bruce too would be staying “If you still want to that is.”

Bruce replied with an “Of course” and once in New York settled rather nicely, getting to know Phil Coulson and Edwin Jarvis and realised that YINSEN was practically everywhere where Tony and Natasha were, like some kind of guardian angel (or guardian AI).

Bruce joined Tony regularly in his lab and learned that the lab was like a meeting point for those closest to Tony since the younger man spent most of his time – that he wasn’t training or attending to some SHIELD related business – in his lab. 

Speaking of Tony training: Bruce accidently walked, while exploring the different floors, into Natasha and Tony training.

He stopped dead in his tracks and once again was awed by the fluent and quick movements the two executed even though he now knew that they were Assassin and watched them for some time.

“Ogling Tony, Doc?”

Bruce jumped away and stared wide-eyed at the ceiling where Clint was hanging from grinning at Bruce mischievously.

“Clint! Jesus! Don’t scare me like that!”

Clint just shrugged upside-down and fell down to the floor, twisting in the air and landing on his feet. “But that wouldn’t be as fun. Anyway you didn’t answer my question.”

“Wha-“ Bruce started till he remembered what Clint had asked and blushed. “No! God, no of course not! Why would I? I mean, not that he isn’t… We’re just friends… Uhm, you know what, see you at dinner.” And wit that Bruce fled the room, leaving a laughing Clint and two perplex Assassin’s behind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmh this turned out to be hinting Scienceboyfriends or at least close Sciencebros!  
> Oh, somehow I love it how I let Clint just turn up at the end and let him tease Bruce. *grins evilly* Go Clint! :D  
> By the way, how do you like YINSEN? Since Jarvis still lives in this Universe and Yinsen died and had a great impact in Tony’s and Tasha’s life despite their short time together I wanted the AI to get his name. :)  
> Hope you liked it and tell me what you think of it!


End file.
